Korea issues advisory on foreign food-facility registration
Business Mirror
July 13, 2016

THE Special Act on Imported Food Safety Management was issued by the Republic of South Korea and took effect on February 4, enforced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) with the grace period until August 3.

It is mandatory for foreign food manufacturers or food importers to register overseas food facilities of the product to MFDS, at least 7 days prior to their fist importation. The registration should be renewed every two years. The food products from foreign facilities that fail to register may be refused to be imported to Korea by MFDS.

For successful registration, manufacturers should fill out the form to provide correct information to Importer to satisfy the registration requirements.  It is required to have the agreement of MFDS inspection by the foreign facility for importer.

The advisory said that, if there are any manufacturers who are not willing to provide the facility information to the importer, they can also directly register to the MFDS System (http://impfood.mfds.go.kr).

A person who intends to import food into Korea or a person who establishes and operates a foreign food facility (importers) under Article 5 (1) of the Act shall register each of the following matters with the minister of Food and Drug Safety via the Internet or mail in accordance with the Application for Registration of Foreign Food Facility in attached Form 1 by no later than seven days before he or she files an import declaration under Article 31 (1): Provided, that where a foreign food facility has already been registered and maintained effectively under Article 5 (10) of the Act, the foregoing shall not apply.

The following information should be included when filling out the registration form:

• Name, location, representative, phone number and e-mail address of the facility;
• Type of business, whether a food-safety management system has been applied type of food;
• Where the minister of Food and Drug Safety deems it necessary, the person shall agree on visits to and inspections on his or her facility;
• Confirmation that information to be registered does not differ from facts; and
• Confirmation that the person who establishes and operates a foreign food facility has agreed to obtain registration (This is limited to where a person who intends to import files an application for registration.

Foreign Food Facility Registration is a separate registration from those foreign food facility described in previous imports report. That means foreign food facility reported during the previous imports must be registered separately. It is a separate registration process. The validity period of registration is two years and shall be renewed before the expiration of seven days prior to registration. It is possible to register by mail or online.□

The full text of the Act is available for download in this link: https://goo.gl/Cs6I7s.